Musician's Challenges

Those are flashy showpieces that test how fast someone can move their fingers rather than pieces that show the depth and breadth of an artist's interpretative mind and soul. There are countless pieces for the guitar that afford the opportunity to express one's musicality over simple virtuosity. Of course a good artist will always find a way to put the music over the technique.

I would recommend pieces on the order of:

Britten--Nocturnal (check out Julian Bream)
Bach--D minor Ciaccona for violin or any lute suite (Eliot Fisk)
Ponce--Sonata III or Variations on La Folia (Andres Segovia)
Granados--La Maja de Goya (Oscar Ghiglia)

Regarding the pieces you mention, I'm a fan of Ana V. but I'd go with
1. Recuerdos--Segovia EMI recording
2. La Cateral--John Williams
3. Las Abejaz--Eliot Fisk

Thanks for the chance to give my 2 cents' worth.

Tostado wrote:

Of course a good artist will always find a way to put the music over the technique.

Generally agreed, but I'd put it a little differently: a good artist will always find a way to put technique in service to the music.

IMO, your point re: technique for technique's sake is spot on. There's plenty of it out there.

How about Andres' Segovia playing "Leyenda"?

Steve Howe's guitar in "Close to the Edge"?

So many things Steve Hackett and Tony Banks did in Genesis?